The class roared to life once the bell for interval rang.
Eva remained where she was though, her eyes stubbornly trained on her desk, not wanting to acknowledge Terrence’s presence.
“Aren’t you going to eat something?” he asked her and Eva reacted by moving further into the wall, wanting so badly to cut off any interaction. She just wanted to be left alone, why couldn’t the stupid boy do that?
She ignored him, knowing that answering him would only lead to him asking something else in return. He didn’t know how to shut up.
He sighed and sat back down next to her instead of joining the other students and running into the playfield outside.
“Here,” Terrence said, pushing towards her his red lunch box which had MARVEL written in big, bold black letters across the lid.
Her eyebrows, which was probably the most prominent feature of hers and made up for the otherwise unhealthy look she had about her, shot up in astonishment. She then shifted her gaze from the lunchbox back to the red-haired boy.
“What is this?” she asked, her forehead creasing as she frowned in curiosity.
“A lunchbox,” he replied much to her chagrin, “it’s where you store food—”
“I know what a lunchbox is!” Eva cried, her cornflower eyes flashing with unnatural anger for an eight year old. Perhaps she’d inherited her father’s temper. Or maybe her dislike for the boy and his assumption that she was stupid just didn’t sit well with her.
“Well, you asked!” he defended himself, but Eva could see a slight pink colour dusting his cheeks as he spoke.
“I asked you why you were giving me your food,” she huffed, still miffed.
“Oh, that… well, I thought you didn’t have any?” he sounded unsure all of a sudden.
“I do,” Eva replied curtly and pushed the box back to Terrence.
“You’re welcome,” he muttered, causing Eva to snap her head back to his direction.
“For what?” she asked incredulously.
“For sharing,” he said, seeming annoyed at her now.
And then shooting a glare at her, he abruptly stood up and left the classroom, leaving Eva to her own devices as she wanted.
---
Eva clasped her hands tightly together on her lap as the smartly dressed old man drove her out of school her new house. She really couldn’t understand why Logan had a man for driving her to and back from school and whenever her mum and he went out together for dinner. Didn’t Logan know how to drive?
But when Eva looked around her out the window of the grand white car, she saw that most children had cars similar to hers pick them up instead of those big yellow school buses at her old school.
Everything was so different here— even the way people spoke and behaved. Mum told her it was because they were all rich and that they lived in a better part of the country now.
That was probably the only conversation she had with her mum. Eva almost never saw ma these days. She was always out with Logan, doing this and doing that. It’s like Logan was keeping ma to himself, as if he didn’t want to share her. And thus Eva’s dislike for the man grew.
He was just so different to pa.
“Alright, kiddo, we’re home,” the chauffer said as he brought the car to a stop in front of the huge house. Eva didn’t respond, not wanting to make conversation with a stranger. Then again, everyone but her mum was a stranger in her eyes. Instead, she slipped out the car and crossed her arms over her chest as she walked up the steps that led to the huge mahogany doors.
She loathed the house— it was so big for just three people. The chauffer didn’t live with them, and even if he did, the house would still be too big.
Eva was in for a surprise when she entered the house— for the first time since they moved in, her mum was home when she came from school. It made the little girl happy. And she wanted to save that peculiar feeling in a little jar so that she could have it anytime she wished for the sensation. Especially because she only ever felt that warmth flow through her once in a blue moon.
“You’re home today!” Eva exclaimed, smiling as she walked into the kitchen but her mother’s back was turned to her as she lit the stove.
“Oh— you’re home so soon,” ma replied but never once turned around to greet her daughter which struck Eva as odd. “I almost forgot you were at school,” she laughed weakly. “Get changed and I’ll call you when dinner’s ready, love.”
Eva felt something in her grow small and empty when her mother dismissed her so easily— like a tiny prick in a balloon, causing it to lose air slowly at the beginning, and then all at once with greater force towards the end.
And without another word, she left.
---
“How was school?” Logan asked as the three of them sat at the long dining table. Eva thought it was ridiculous. A waste of space to have such a table for only them.
Eva shrugged, so accustomed to taking the route of body gestures instead of words. She was more comfortable with not speaking. It was what Pa had preferred after all.
“I asked you a question,” Logan’s voice had a firmer edge to it now. “How was school?”
And like hearing a call to come home, like finally finding something long-lost, Eva recognised that tone— she’d recognise it anywhere, on whomever.
It was as if her father’s spirit had come back from the dead with a promise to never leave her.
And Eva had always known better than to disobey.
“Good,” she lied for the sake of everyone, “it was good.”
Logan smiled in satisfaction. “There. Now that wasn’t so hard was it?”
And that was when Eva finally saw it— right there, sitting on the apple of her mother’s left cheek like history’s promise of repetition, was a dark red bruise, that was soon turning into a dull purple.
Eva felt the air leave her lungs and she couldn’t understand why.
Perhaps Logan was very much like Pa after all.
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Written on; 01st July 2016
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I know most of you expected happier times for Care and Eva but there's a reason its called the "abuse chain." Its a cycle and it'll go on and on and on for as long as its allowed to go on and on. Women like Care usually end up with the same kind of men — they're like a magnet for trouble especially when generations before her followed in the same footsteps. And it'll only stop if Care decides it has to stop.
Just keep in mind this is Eva's story though — and what matters is Eva's choice when she grows into womanhood.
I do love you all ♥ your comments and messages are like a never ending source of joy. Every time I get mentally exhausted, I just re-read all the comments and messages I get and its like everything's alright in my world again ❤